Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Women's Rights Network: Policy Director
Women's Rights Network: Policy Director
" States should condemn violence against women and should not
invoke any custom, tradition or religious consideration to avoid their
obligations with respect to its elimination. States should pursue by all
appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating violence
against women." (UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence
against Women, Article 4)
“ [Governments] shall take all appropriate [steps] to protect the child
all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or
negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual
abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other
person who has the care of the child. (U.N. Convention on the Rights
of the Child, Article 19)
Publications
Battered Mothers Speak Out: A Human Rights Report on Domestic Violence and Child
Custody in the Massachusetts Family Courts (2002).
Battered Mothers Speak Out documents and analyzes instances in which the
Massachusetts family courts have violated internationally accepted human rights
laws and standards in selected child custody cases where there is a history of partner
abuse. We found that there are state actors who have committed one or more of the
following human rights violations:
The report also covers the history of and need for the Battered Mothers’ Testimony
Project, our research methodology, and a discussion of relevant human rights
principles, standards and laws. The report concludes with a series of detailed,
practical recommendations for change that are based on our findings. 106 pp. US
$25 +shipping & handling. Tribunal Video: US $15 + shipping and handling. Special
rate for both: US $35 + shipping and handling. To purchase a printed version of the
full report, the video, or both, visit Our Publications.
The executive summary of Battered Mothers Speak Out is available at no charge
through the publications office, or your can download this PDF version (1.98 MB).
International Resource Guide: Meeting the Needs of Children Exposed to the Abuse
of their Mothers (1997; updated 1999). 84 pp. #WCW1. US$12.00 + shipping &
handling. This Resource Guide is intended for use by battered women, teachers,
service providers, activists, lawyers, child protection agencies, clinicians,
researchers, policy-makers, and others. It contains detailed descriptions of and
ordering information for manuals, curricula, guidebooks, reports, papers,
evaluations, audio-visual materials, storybooks, coloring books, newsletters, fact
sheets, and brochures related to the issue of children who witness domestic violence.
The Resource Guide also provides four extensive bibliographical lists on this topic:
1. Books specifically for use by children of battered women
2. Books for professionals
3. Journal and newspaper articles
4. Unpublished papers, manuscripts and theses
Available through the Wellesley Centers for Women. Click here to order online, or
call: +781-283-2510.
International Strategy Session Project Report (1997). This report is a
summary and analysis of WRN's International Strategy Session, "Meeting the Needs
of Children Exposed to the Abuse of their Mothers," held in Boston, Massachusetts,
USA from March 15-17, 1997. For this Strategy Session, WRN brought together a
total of 11 women's and children's advocates from the United States and Canada for
a weekend of intensive participatory workshops, exercises and discussions on this
topic. This Project Report is designed to:
1. Provide readers with a detailed description of the International Strategy
Session
2. Promote networking among a broader group of advocates
3. Serve as a practical guide to running small-scale workshops that foster a
human rights culture of respect and support among participants, and
generate concrete outcomes on both individual and organizational levels
In summary, this report offers a window into why IPSA is such an important and
neglected issue, and explores what we can do to address it in a more productive and
meaningful way. Available through the Wellesley Centers for Women. Click here to
order online, or call: +781-283-2510.
Other Publications by WRN:
“Out of the Frying Pan: Battered Mothers and Their Children Take a Beating in
Massachusetts Family Courts”, July 2002, Sojourner: The Women's Forum.
"Advocate/Activist Note," Violence Against Women: An International and
Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1, February 1997, Sage Periodicals Press.
"Innovative Overseas Strategies To End Domestic Violence," Tex. J. Women & Law,
Spring 1997.